Home › Glossary › Letter B

Bucolic

Genre
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Bucolic poetry idealizes rural life and pastoral simplicity, often featuring shepherds and nature as a retreat from urban complexity.

Explore this topic in depth (1)

Renaissance Poetry — Renaissance poetry emerged from a changing world of classical learning, print, religious conflict, court culture and global exploration. Its poems often sound intensely personal, yet they are also highly crafted performances shaped by inherited forms, rhetorical skill and music.

Detailed Definition
Bucolic poetry idealizes rural life, shepherds, and pastoral landscapes, originating in Theocritus’s Idylls and refined by Virgil; it often contrasts rustic simplicity with urban complexity, using nature as a site for philosophical reflection or emotional refuge.
Example
Example in poetry:
Bucolic in Virgil’s "Eclogues": shepherds singing of lost Arcadia; Milton’s "Lycidas" mourns in pastoral setting; Contemporary eco-poetry by Wendell Berry revives bucolic ideals; Bucolic verse contrasts rural simplicity with urban corruption; Modern bucolics often address industrial agriculture’s damage
Additional Notes
A bucolic celebrates pastoral simplicity and rural life, contrasting urban complexity. Often idealizes shepherds and countryside. Related to eclogue and georgic but focuses on idyllic scenes rather than labor or dialogue.
Also Known As
Pastoral rustic verse shepherd poetry pastoral poem
Skip to main content